BASE jumping in Yosemite

Summary: a detailed history of base jumping in Yosemite, from how
it came to be illegal, to some recent events. Please note that this
is from the perspective of a non-base jumper

A personal view

The first time I had heard of El Capitan, more than fifteen years ago,
was not from another climber, but from a French army officer of the Air Force
Fusilliers Commandos. He was traveling to California and
couldn't pass up on the opportunity. He hiked by himself in the
afternoon to the top of the mountain, waited a few hours into the
night, and jumped and landed in the dark without any fear. Aftewards,
he had a custom T-shirt made, and was amused to see how
some American skydivers seemed outraged.

BASE jumping refers to the four general types of structures from which
people jump: Buildings, Antennas, Spans (bridges) and Earth
(cliffs). It is the most extreme form of skydiving because altitudes
can be ridiculously low, the objects themselves represent a hazard, and landing
areas can be quite small. Of course, the more extreme it is, the more
it attracts some people. At one point, I looked seriously into it,
but fortunately :-) I was distracted by other pursuits.
The sport really begin in earnest in
1978, when freefall photographer Carl Boenish
led a group of jumpers to El Capitan's summit and produced a
spectacular short film of their skydives. The film inspired jumpers
to visit Yosemite Valley and NPS, not knowing how to
respond to this
new activity, eventually banned it.

People still seem to jump there all the time. I have seen many articles in
climbing magazines with interviews of someone who mentioned (often
with a lot of details) that he had jumped. I've heard that the late
Xavier Bongard (who, by the way died BASE jumping in Switzerland) had
jumped more than 10 times. Almost everyone who has
spend time on El Cap or at its base has seen someone jump. I have
heard a few people (on the net or live) reporting that they saw
someone die. Jumps happen usually
before sunrise, but I have seen two people jump at 8pm in June and
apparently get away with that.

After climbing the Nose, Frank and I bivied at
the top. At sunrise, we were surprised to see two French guys walking
around. They happened to be somewhat well known climbers. They
had hiked up the day before, and planned to jump, but
decided not to because of some wind, and ended up descending the East
Ledges route with us. The most favored exit point seems to be an
overhanging triangular piece of rock at the top of Mescalito aptly
named the "diving board".

The only problems is not to be killed
and not to be caught. There has been a few reported
fatalities. I think the NPS tries to avoid publicity about this
sort of thing, so the actual number might be higher, maybe a few per
year.
It doesn't look like a very dangerous jump (by BASE standards, I mean. BASE is a
extremely dangerous sport). The upper two-thirds of the wall is
overhanging, and I have seen videos of people jumping in tandems, on
bikes, etc... something you would not do on a risky jump.

If caught, you'd go to jail, be fined $2000, and have your gear
confiscated. A pretty stiff punishment, in my opinion, for a legally
rather minor violation. Paragliding, a very different, and
considerably safer sport, which
consists of taking off a slope or cliff with an open canopy
is banned mostly because the Park rangers assimilate everybody with a
parachute to a BASE jumper. However, some windows are open for
hang-gliding, despite the more obstrusive nature of the sport.
If your car
has bumper stickers which mention skydiving, the rangers might even
hassle you, like searching it or showing you pictures of the
dismembered bodies. They really hate that. They have to do a lot of
paperwork and clean up the mess.

When commenting on why BASE jumping is illegal
in Yosemite, Eugene Miya wrote:

The problem with BASE jumping (and hang gliding in Yosemite) isn't
the hazard to the jumper (pilot), the problem is that tourists do two
things not in keeping with the Park: 1) they drive into meadows
and park for better views, and 2) they drive in the trees and rocks on
the side of the road because of the distraction. So it's scooping up
the remains of the spectators which causes big Park problems.

BASE Jumping Regulations Ruling

Following arrests in Lake Powell, BASE jumpers fought back against the
NPS, with the interesting argument that they should be considered like
planes, which were not prohibited there. Details are of this legal
battle are
here.
In Aug 2000, Christian Caslin sent me the following update:

The Ninth Circuit has upheld several
important regulations that are employed against BASE jumpers who
illegally jump from heights within NPS areas. The court agreed with
the Tenth Circuit in holding that the rectangular shaped ram-air
aeroplastic wings employed by BASE jumpers are "parachutes," in spite
of the sophistication of the device and its ability to operate like a
hang glider. The defendant BASE jumpers had argued that the device
qualified as powerless flight and accordingly could not be prohibited
by 36 C.F.R. section 2.17(a)(3). The court also agreed with the Tenth
Circuit that the term "delivery" used in section 2.17(a)(3) includes
self-delivery, or "moving oneself from one area to another," which
would apply to a single individual who BASE jumps. The court also
noted that the NPS has authority to enforce these regulations.
Although the Federal Aviation Administration has jurisdiction to
"develop plans and policy for the use of the navigable airspace and
assign by regulation or order the use of the airspace necessary to
ensure the safety of aircraft and the efficient use of airspace," the
FAA does not have exclusive jurisdiction in NPS areas and nothing
precludes the NPS from regulating landings within NPS areas. Most
important, the court also affirmed the conviction of a defendant for
disorderly conduct under section 2.34(a)(4) for recklessly creating a
risk of harm to himself, other BASE jumpers and to members of the
public by "creating or maintaining a hazardous or physically offensive
condition." "The safety threat implicated in BASE jumping is most
often the potential harm to the jumper due to the fatalities and
injuries characterizing the extreme sport. We do not, however,
discount the safety risks in BASE jumping to members of the public,
particularly in areas where people are likely to congregate... We
therefore affirm the district court's determination that BASE jumping
can create a risk of harm to the public and defer to the courts'
evidentiary findings." United States v. Albers, No. 99-10071 (9th
Cir. 7/17/00). See also earlier appellate case relating to seizures by
rangers on houseboat in United States v. Albers, 136 F.3d 670 (9th
Cir. 1998). For more information on this case or other court
decisions, contact NPS legal instructor Don Usher at FLETC via cc:Mail
at NP-WASO.